Archer Meets Viking
by Cool And Creative Two
Summary: Hiccup's caught off guard when Astrid declares she loves him, and Stoick announces he and Astrid will be married in late summer, so he decides to take off with Toothless on a trip, determined to figure out whether he can go through with the marriage, but what he didn't expect to find is a Scottish princess, which causes him to rethink his future. Please read, review, and recommend!
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello, and welcome, my fellow authors and readers! It wasn't until I saw Brave twice in late June that I've started to ship Hiccup and Merida, and that's why I recently created a tumblr blog, for which you can find the link for it on my profile page, and in the meantime, I hope that you'll like this story. Enjoy! I really have no idea with how to write Scottish accents, so it would be great if you could help me out by sending in your ideas and suggestions. Thank you!**

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_**Prologue**_

Hiccup had been quietly sitting on a barrel near the dock, while Toothless was obviously by his side, like he always was, and the Viking could tell that his black, scaly friend was already getting bored, but he just couldn't leave right now, especially since he knew that Astrid would be arriving on a ship any minute now.

Astrid was away for the past week on a fishing trip with her father, and she would have brought Stormfly along to help her out, or at least, to keep her company, but her father flat out refused, saying that no dragons would be included on the trip, most likely because he wanted it to be just family.

Hiccup had managed to keep himself super busy while his girlfriend was gone, with looking after her Deadly Nadder, which Astrid thought was giving too much work for Hiccup, especially when he already has a Night Fury to take care of, but he insisted that it was no problem, and she didn't have to worry about it.

There was also his job with being the founder and head dragon trainer for Berk Dragon Academy, and it was pretty hard for Hiccup to concentrate at the arena, considering that he noticed Astrid's absence right away before the sessions had even begun.

On the night before she left, the couple spent time alone at the cove, and while they were there, Astrid told Hiccup that she had something very important to tell him, but she somehow changed her mind and decided to wait until she came back from the trip, and that's something which bothered Hiccup a lot lately.

Why couldn't Astrid have just told Hiccup instead of having him wait for an entire week to hear whatever it was, and besides, Hiccup couldn't help but think about whether it was good or bad, because Astrid didn't even mention if it was about their relationship or something else.

All of the many thought that were currently going around in Hiccup's mind suddenly got interrupted when Toothless began nudging him, as he was trying to tell him that something had caught his attention, and when Hiccup looked up from the ground to see what it was, a smile quickly grew on his face.

Not so far in the distance, both Hiccup and Toothless were clearly seeing a ship that was sailing across the sea, and the closer it came to the dock of the island, the more that Hiccup could be able to hear Astrid's voice, calling out his name, and also see her waving to him.

Once the ship had finally come into port, Astrid instantly jumped onto the dock, and ran towards Hiccup, who had just got himself off from the barrel, and started walking over to his girlfriend, when she grabbed him and pulled him in for a long embrace.

"Astrid, it's great to have you back home, so how was your fishing trip? I guess that it couldn't have been a lot of fun while not having Stormfly around with you." Hiccup assumed.

"Well, it was definately not fun for me knowing that I couldn't get to bring you and Toothless along, but my father had made it clear, and he kept saying that the trip would really give us a chance to talk, so anyway, speaking of Stormfly, where is she right now?" Astrid asked.

"There's no need to worry, Stormfly's back at your house waiting for you, and I know that it's probably not my business or anything, but what exactly did you and your father talk about, because I remember that you said back in the cove a week ago that there was something very important for you to tell me." Hiccup mentioned.

"Wait a minute, Hiccup, you still don't know about it, because I was sure that your father was going to talk to you right after we returned to the village on that same night." Astrid replied, which had gotten Hiccup thinking for a while before he gave an answer to Astrid.

"I believe that I asked my dad about it just once, and all he said was that the two should wait until you and your father got back from your fishing trip. Oh, and speaking of your father, here he comes right now, so if you don't mind, I'd like to ask him what exactly is it that's so important." Hiccup informed, while turning to approach Astrid's father, Alrick Hofferson.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hofferson, before your daughter left with you on your fishing trip a week ago, I remember she said to me that there was something very important for me to know, but she changed her mind, and never told me, so I was hoping if you could please tell me." Hiccup requested.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup, but we should probably go over to your father's house first before we talk about anything, and you shouldn't have to worry at all because it's actually a good thing that you'll be happy to hear about." Alrick responded, before giving a grin and patting Hiccup on the shoulder.

Hiccup made a long sigh, since he was obviously disappointed that he wasn't going to find out right away, but he was nonetheless glad that he would finally know very soon.

* * *

With his best friend, girlfriend, and her father coming along with him, Hiccup reached his house and opened the door to find his father sitting still in a chair near the dinner table, and right when they entered, Stoick got himself off from the chair and walked towards them.

"Alrick, welcome back! It's great to see that you and your daughter made it back to Berk safely, so tell me, how was the fishing trip? Did you get a nice catch of fish while you were far out at sea?" Stoick asked, as he shook Alrick's hand and heavily patted him on the back.

"We weren't so lucky, because it seemed like the fish preferred to hide at the bottom of the ocean, but on the bright side, the trip did give me a chance to discuss with my daughter about a lot of things, and especially...her future." Alrick answered.

Hiccup instantly felt a shudder course throught his entire body right when he heard Astrid's father say those last three words, and he was really getting nervous now, and he could even feel his head vibrating.

"That's good to hear, Alrick, but if you don't mind, I'd like to talk with my son in private, because we didn't really sit down at any time this past week to talk about his future, so maybe you and Astrid should come back some other time. How does tonight at the Great Hall sound?" Stoick suggested.

"Sounds good, chief, and I'll just give Hiccup a kiss before me and my father go." Astrid said, as she walked over to her boyfriend, quickly kissed him hard on the lips, and put her mouth near to Hiccup's ear.

"l love you, Hiccup, and just so you know, that's what I was going to tell you at the cove on that night, but I just got a little scared, so I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, and making you wait, and I really missed you so much, and trust me, you have absolutely nothing to worry about." Astrid whispered.

She smiled at Hiccup for a few seconds before leaving through the front door, with Alrick following her, while closing the door behind him, and that just left Hiccup, Stoick, and Toothless in the house, with father and son staring at each other for a short moment until Hiccup spoke up.

"So...dad, now that Astrid and her father have left, what is it about my future that you wanted to talk to me about? I mean, did I do something wrong?" Hiccup asked, while trying to recall anything particularly bad he'd done in the past few days, but he came up short.

"No, son, you did nothing wrong at all, and I apologize for not telling you earlier, but before Alrick left on that fishing trip, we discussed your relationship with Astrid, and since the two of you seem to be very happy together, both of us felt that it was time for you to take the next step." Stoick answered.

"Dad, what do you mean by "next step"? Are you suggesting that me and Astrid sleep together, because I'm sure that we're way too young to even consider doing that." Hiccup asked, while assuming that's what his father was going to be talking about with him.

"You're absolutely right about that, son, which is why me and Alrick have worked out a contract for you and Astrid to be married by the end of summer. Congratulations, son!" Stoick proudly exclaimed.

Hiccup felt the sudden sensation that the floor had been jerked out from under him, and he half expected someone to jump out and say, "Haha! Just kidding! You totally fell for it!" But, unfortunately, that didn't get to happen for him.

"What! I'm engaged to Astrid? Dad, how can we be engaged if we didn't even talk about it, and why didn't I find out about this before? Does Astrid even know about this?" Hiccup asked, and he obviously felt like asking a lot more questions.

Stoick made a bark of laughter, as though it was a good time of watching his son freak out. "Calm down, Hiccup! Well, I'm sure that the engagement's exactly what Alrick discussed with Astrid during their fishing trip for the past week.

It's a good thing you're engaged because it's a perfect match with the Hoffersons, which are a good, strong family, just like us Haddocks, and it was actually an unplanned sort of thing, since it was Alrick who made the offer first, and as you already know, I decided to wait until they got back so that we could discuss everything together." Stoick explained.

"What is there else to discuss about? I'm barely sixteen! I've still haven't even begun to understand females! Why should me and Astrid have to get married so soon, I mean, can't we just wait for a couple of years to give us more time to commit to each other?" Hiccup requested.

"Son, once you're married, the two of you will have more than enough time to be committed, and it wouldn't be so different to make this an official union, because a lot of Vikings choose to marry at a young age, especially Viking chiefs, and it's to ensure that the tribes stay strong.

Hiccup, I really am sorry for not telling you about any of this earlier, but now that you know, it shouldn't be a problem anymore, and my decision on this is final. I just hope someday, you'll understand that while a father must do what's best for his son, a chief must do what's best for the village." Stoick explained.

Before Hiccup could even ask his father any more questions, Stoick had already walked out the door, and Hiccup wordlessly climbed up the stairs into his bedroom, with Toothless quietly following him, and he laid down with his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling for a moment.

His mind instantly got focused on what Astrid told him before she left his house, which caused Hiccup to wonder if he loved her back, and the Viking didn't really know, but he had always liked her, and cared about her as a friend, but he wasn't if he wanted their relationship to become more serious.

He liked their relationship as it already was, a comforting and friendly love, because they were not just friends, but they were also sweethearts, so obviously, he never even had considered marriage, since it was taking a huge step in their relationship, and making an actual commitment.

"What should I do? Astrid said that she loves me, but I'm not sure if I feel the same way about her, and how am I supposed to tell her that? Surely she will get angry or sad, and I don't want that to happen, but I'm afraid that our relationship could be destroyed!" Hiccup thought to himself.

He still kept his green eyes on the ceiling, as if the answer was up there somehow. "I do like Astrid, and I have always liked her. I would never forgive myself if I let down such a strong, tough, and great girl like Astrid."

Hiccup knew that he would never do that to her, and to decide whether he loved Astrid or not, Hiccup thought of everything that they had been through, from dragon training to the battle with the only to have uncertainty written all over his face.

"No, I don't love Astrid," Hiccup concluded, and it was far too early, which is why all he needed was time, and if Astrid would give him that, he would eventually give his love in return, but he didn't want to spend all of that time planning their wedding, and it was much too soon for them to be doing that either.

It seemed impossible at this point for Hiccup to go outside, find his father, and try to convince him to have the wedding, if not the engagement, postponed because he couldn't possibly be married to somebody whom he didn't love yet, even it was Astrid, and he knew that it wouldn't really be fair to her.

Maybe if Hiccup could get away from Berk for a while, it would help him think about going through with the wedding, and come to a realization that him and Astrid were truly meant for each other, but he knew that it would be a bad message by taking off without saying anything.

He could leave a note for his father explaining that he wasn't running away, since it would only be a few days, or maybe even a week until he got back, and while Hiccup still wasn't sure of the destination, he should be able to find some kind of campsite that he could stay at.

"Alright Toothless, I think that it's time to go on a trip of our own, and it will just be the two of us, but this trip isn't going to include Astrid and Stormfly, so are you okay with that?" Hiccup asked, and he already knew what the dragon's answer was when Toothless came over to licking his face.

"I'll take that as a yes, but before we go, I just have to pack up some things I'll need and leave a note for my dad, and we'll be out of here. Could you please wait for me downstairs?" Hiccup requested, and Toothless nodded before going down the wooden stairway.

Hiccup immediately found a basket and got started on filling it with the most important things that he should bring for trip, like a few changes of clothes, fresh food, clean water, and his sketchbook, because he'd like to draw anything out there that might capture his attention.

After he was done packing the basket, Hiccup walked over to his desk, grabbed a spare piece of paper and the charcoal pen his mother had given him when he was young, and started writing.

_Dear Father,_

_I know that since you're the chief, it's your duty to make decisions which are best for the village, and because I'm not only your son, but your only child, I'll be the next in line to take that position in the future, but I'm not exactly happy with the decision you've recently made for me._

_Ever since I met Astrid back when we were kids, I liked her a lot, and I still do right now, but my feelings for Astrid haven't really changed over the years, and that's why I don't love her, and I'm not even in love with her, but I would like to be, if only I had more time._

_It wouldn't be fair to you, Astrid, and her father for me to stay here in Berk and spend that time making plans for me and Astrid to get married, when I'm still not certain about spending the rest of my life with her, and that's why I need to get away for a while._

_You don't have to worry about me, because I'll only be gone for a few days, or probably even a week, and I have a basket that's all packed with the most necessary things for the trip, and Toothless will be by my side and look after me the entire time we're away from Berk._

_When you see Astrid, can you please tell her not to be upset with me, because I'm pretty sure that will be her instant reaction when she finds out about me having left the village, and also tell her father that I still do like her daughter, and I'm not scared of being with her._

_While I'm gone, I'll miss spending time with not only her and Stormfly, but also with you, because ever since the battle with the Green Death, I've felt that our relationship has gotten better and stronger over the past few months, with Alvin, the portrait, and everything else._

_I'll be sure to tell you about what happened during the trip when I get back, and until then, goodbye, father._

_With love, from__ your son, Hiccup_

After he was finally finished with the note, Hiccup made a quick double check in the basket to see if there was anything that he might have missed to put in, and he remembered that he wouldn't need to wear his fur vest at least until he found land, and so he put the vest in the basket.

Hiccup looked around to find his mother's breast plate, and he let out a sigh while looking at it, since the helmet was the only piece of his mother he had left of her, and he gave an adjustment by fixing one of the horns that was crooked before putting the dull metal helmet on his head.

He quickly put on his leather riding vest and tightened the straps of it before Hiccup slung the large basket over his shoulder and took the handwritten letter to his father with his other available hand, and carefully went down the wooden stairs, being cautious not to trip on any of the steps.

"Alright, Toothless, I've got the basket all packed up for our trip, and now we just have to go over to the cove, and I think that it's better to walk because I don't want anyone from the village to catch us if we're flying to get there. Besides, it's better than having my father on your back, right?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless growled, while making a nod in agreement about that question, and Hiccup laid the note down on the dinner table, being in plain sight for his father to see when the next time he comes inside, and both of them went across the room, going outside the house through the back door.

Since Hiccup was being mostly quiet during their walk to the cove, Toothless believed that Hiccup had been having second thoughts about their trip, and maybe wondering if he was making a huge mistake with leaving Berk, and so he gently nudged his friend to the side, while looking up at him.

"Don't worry, bud, I'm not sad or upset with you about anything, it's just really important for me to take this trip right now, because otherwise, I'll never know whether or not I can live with even the idea of me and Astrid becoming husband and wife at the end of the summer. Do you understand?" Hiccup asked.

He playfully rubbed the dragon's nose, while also giving him a slight grin, which soon caused Toothless' worries to go away, and as they went much deeper into the forest, Hiccup and his Night Fury could hear the sound of birds chirping, and when Hiccup turned around, he barely saw the village anymore.

"You know what, Toothless, I think that we've walked pretty far enough, and I'm sure that nobody will see us if we start flying, but there's only one more thing that I need to do, and that's for me to connect the basket to your saddle. Now you'll just have to hold still and it will be done with, okay?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless calmly purred, and he managed to keep himself in a still position long enough for Hiccup to get the basket situated on his back, and luckily for Toothless, the basket didn't feel so heavy, but he had to admit that it really felt a lot better than having a man who was four hundred pounds on him.

Hiccup jumped onto the saddle and hooked himself in, attaching the metal loops of his leather belt to the metal hooks on Toothless' saddle, and once Hiccup was done with that, the dragon thrust his wings downward and in a matter of only a few seconds, they were off from the ground and into the sky.

When they were a good distance away from the island, Hiccup turned back to the town, getting one last look at it. "Goodbye, Dad. Goodbye, Astrid. Goodbye, Berk." He whispered, and with those few messages said, the unlikely friends took off towards the coast, while facing the wide open ocean.


	2. Stranger In The Forest

**I would like everyone who's reading this story to know that the first half of this chapter will be inspired by parts two-seven from the seven-part Mericcup comic "How We Met" which was created by an incredible artist named Redhead-K, and you'll be able to find it on Deviantart. I suggest that you take a look at the comic, because it's such a wonderful work of art.**

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_**Stranger In The Forest**_

It had been officially a few hours or maybe even more than that since Hiccup had left Berk, but he still couldn't help but think about what his father would be doing as soon he read the letter that Hiccup left for him at the house.

Would Stoick, with the help of Thornado, his Thunder Drum, immediately leave the village looking for him on his own, or would he get the whole village together and lead out a search party with the use of both ships and dragons to find him?

None of those thoughts weren't really much of a concern to Hiccup, but he was hoping that his father might possibly understand that this trip was actually going to help both of them, but he knew that there wasn't anything more he could do from this point.

Hiccup's mind eventually went from his father to Astrid, and he instantly started to feel awful about how he didn't say goodbye to her, at least, not to her face.

The dragon trainer also realized that this trip would be sending the wrong message for Astrid too by making her believe that it was her fault with saying that she loved him, and she would think that's the reason why he took off from the island.

Once again, there still wasn't something that Hiccup could do to change the situation anyway, but his thoughts were soon interrupted when he heard Toothless gave a exhausted noise which caused Hiccup to wonder if something was wrong.

"What is it, bud? Are you getting tired? If that's the case, I promise that we'll have ourselves back on solid ground as soon as we find land, and. . . wait a second, I think that I'm starting to see something right now." Hiccup said.

He squinted his eyes to get a better look through the misty sky, and luckily, Hiccup could actually see a incredibly large amount of land in the far distance up ahead of them, and Toothless instantly flapped his wings to have them at a faster speed.

As they flew closer to the land, it became much more visable, so by the time when they came over an open and clear spot near the forest, Toothless quickly landed and that's when Hiccup realized why his dragon had been so tired and worn out.

It wasn't because of the flying he did which went on for hours, it was also having his friend's heavily packed basket on his back, which Hiccup took off to his relief, and slung it over his shoulder again, and Toothless let out a few deep breaths.

"Sorry about that, Toothless, but you don't have to worry about the basket anymore, because the next time it needs to be carried while we're flying, it's going to be on my shoulder the whole time, so that will give you seven whole days without anything heavy on your back." Hiccup informed.

Toothless suddenly jumped up, and almost knocked Hiccup down on his back to the ground when he laid both of his front paws on Hiccup's shoulders, as if he was trying to give him a hug, since he was so relieved to hear what his human friend just said to him.

"Alright, buddy, I get it, now please take it easy, and get yourself off of me, but there's one more thing that we have to do at this point, which is for us to go into the forest and find some shelter, because we'll want ourselves to be safe and protected if a storm comes." Hiccup reminded.

With both of them by each other's side, Toothless and Hiccup's walk through the woods wasn't really so dangerous and scary, even though it was awfully silent, because they've taken many walks through the forests of Berk, especially without flying to get them around.

Although there was a heavy gray mist that surrounded the land, just like there was up in the sky, it wasn't new to either Hiccup or Toothless, who had seen it a few times, especially when they discovered the Dragon's Nest for the very first time.

They came to a instant stop when something not so far away caught their attention, and it happened to be something that they've never seen in any part of Berk before, which was a circle made up of huge, tall stones, and they walked closer to it get a better look for themselves.

"Wow, it'll be great to see this from up in the sky when we go flying, and I wonder if there's more of these stone circles throughout this land, but why did they made, and who was it that created them? Toothless, please don't get so close to these stones, they probably might be dangerous." Hiccup reminded.

Toothless didn't hear the rest of what Hiccup had told him not do with the stone circles when he noticed a glowing blue light which was flickering between two of the stones, and the Night Fury slowly crawled closer to the light before leaping at the ground to catch it, but the light disappeared.

Just a few seconds had passed before another blue light appeared right in front of him, and Toothless leapt up and pounced towards the light again, only to disappear just before he could touch it, and Hiccup eventually turned his attention from the stones to see where his friend was.

"Hey, Toothless, what are you doing? Is there something that you've found?" Hiccup asked, but his dragon still wasn't listening, as Toothless was only focused on the mysterious blue light, which reappeared before his eyes, but this time, it was outside of the stone circle.

To his surprise, the blue light was suddenly joined by a line of more tiny lights behind it, and because Toothless couldn't take this little game of hide-and seek these lights were apparently playing with him, he chased after them, with Hiccup trying his best to catch up with his friend.

"Wait up, bud! This is a new land we're in right now, so we have to be careful before we take off anywhere, which means that we need to stay at each other's side while we're here!" Hiccup shouted, as he continued to keep Toothless in his sight, but ultimately failed in doing just that.

"What was he even going after? I didn't even get a chance to see whatever it was for myself! It couldn't have been any light reflected on the ground, because that would require the use of metal, and besides, I should put my helmet into the basket so that I don't end up losing it again." Hiccup thought.

Unfortunately, he put both of his hands up to his head to feel only his hair, and not his helmet, which he believed must have fell over while he was running after Toothless, so Hiccup set his basket down and went back in the path leading him to the stone circle until he found it.

When Hiccup came to the basket, and opened it up to put his helmet inside, a slow and steady whisper caught his attention closeby, and he looked up to see a flickering blue light in front of him, and stared at the floating flame in a mixture of both fear and awe.

"So this is what Toothless had been looking at earlier, and maybe if I do the same, I'll be able to find out where he is." Hiccup said, just as more tiny lights appeared right behind the one that was already quite near in his sight, which caused him to form a thin smile.

Hiccup decided to leave his basket where it was, and get back to it once he found Toothless, and the blue lights created an easy path for Hiccup to follow through the dark forest of withered trees covered in hanging moss, and he could soon hear the sound of water running.

There was only one last blue light floating in Hiccup's path, until he could eventually see a nearby stream, and he noticed that the light seemed to be beckoning for him to look past the branches, as if there was something important that he needed to see for himself.

Hiccup took a long look across the stream, until on the right side, he spotted a moving figure dressed in a black cape, who was holding a bow and arrow, and they aimed the arrow down at the water, until shooting it to catch one of the silvery fish swimming upstream.

He squinted his eyes to get a closer look at the mysterious figure in black, as they grabbed the fish by picking up the arrow from out of the stream, and took off the hood over their head to have a good look at their catch, and Hiccup was shocked with he was seeing.

A huge mass of bright red, curly hair came springing out from the hood right when it came off, and Hiccup realized that instead of leading him to Toothless, the tiny blue lights had led the way for him to find a young, red-headed girl, who he could see was a skilled archer.

The Viking stayed from behind the bushes, silently watching the girl, as she carefully walked across to the other side of the stream, where a huge horse was laying down on the grass near a tree, and he was shortly approached by the girl showing her catch to him before she went over to a campfire.

She placed the fish on a spit over the fire to have it properly cooked, and turned the arrow around a few times, roasting it when she heard a noise which certainly sounded familiar to Hiccup, and he immediately got a better look of who it was that made the noise.

The redheaded girl turned around in horror, while holding the fish in her left hand, to see Toothless sitting on his hind legs, licking his lips, and staring right back at her with large expectant eyes, hoping that the girl would be giving him the fish at any second, but it didn't happen.

Instead, the redhead dropped the slightly cooked fish on the ground, took out her bow, placed an arrow in it, got down on one knee, aimed the arrow up at Toothless' face, and was just about to let it go when someone's hand came out, grabbed the arrow, and clenched into a fist to put a film hold on it.

The redhead brought down her bow, turned her face over to the left to see who the hand belonged to, and she found herself at a loss for words while staring up at Hiccup's face, while Hiccup felt the exact same way, as a shade of pink came across their cheeks, with both of them still grasping the arrow.

* * *

"Hey, Hiccup, come on down! It's time to get to the Great Hall, and talk more about your upcoming marriage, so we wouldn't want to keep your fiancée and her father waiting now, huh?." Stoick called out, before he looked down and spotted a sheet of paper on the dinner table.

The chief picked up the sheet, and he quickly took a seat down on one of the chairs right when he could see that the writing on it was done by Hiccup, but instead of being furious and disappointed to find out that his son left the village, Stoick was actually quite proud.

Although he was a little frustrated that Hiccup didn't simply find him and say that he and Toothless would be going away for a while, Stoick was sure that he would have refused to let his son go, and Hiccup would have just packed up a basket and left the village anyway.

It was already getting too dark to send out a search party for Hiccup, but it would have been unnecessary to even do that, considering that Hiccup and his dragon weren't secretly kidnapped from the island and taken as hostages by a rival tribe and held for ransom.

Stoick knew that as his job of being the chief, he couldn't lie to any villager ever, and it's important to tell Astrid and Alrick the truth about Hiccup's absence, so he made his way out from his house to the Great Hall while still holding Hiccup's letter in one of his hands.

When he opened the large double doors, Stoick could already see that the father and daughter pair were sitting together at one of the tables, and the two of them, especially Astrid, also had a smile on their face, which unfortunately, weren't going to last anytime soon.

"Chief, it's so good to see you, but why isn't Hiccup by your side? I thought that he would've been interested to talk about the marriage too." Astrid said, as Stoick went to the other side of the table and sat down, and her smile had vanished when she saw Stoick's face.

"I'm sorry, Astrid, but I'm afraid that any talk about the marriage isn't going to happen, at least, not until Hiccup comes back in the next seven days." Stoick replied, and saw that Astrid had already begun to have a look which was a mix of worry and confusion.

"What do you mean 'in the next seven days'? Why is there going to be a delay with the four of us talking about me and Hiccup getting married at the end of the summer, and finally, where did Hiccup even go, and why would he leave in the first place?" Astrid asked.

"Before my son left, he wrote this letter to me, saying that although he doesn't love you, and isn't even in love with you, he still wants to have those feelings, which is why it's very important for him to have more time, but this doesn't mean that he isn't interested in you at all.

It just means that Hiccup cares about you, because he wants you to be with someone who won't ever lie about his feelings until he's ready in spending the rest of his life with you, so he'll be away for at least a week, and I'm sure that once he gets back, he'll be more than happy to marry you." Stoick explained.

"Stoick, how do we know that your son just wants to be with someone else? I mean, when my daughter kissed him in front of the entire village, he didn't get so freaked out that he and his dragon ended up flying out of Berk leaving behind a written note only for you." Alrick assumed.

"Come on, Alrick, what's the worse that could happen while he's out there in the woods? Hiccup meeting a girl who's just as kind, stubborn, beautiful, and headstrong as Astrid, or probably even more, and then wanting to marry her instead and never come back here again?

If any of us go and try to find him right now, it will just prove that we still don't respect him enough to give him something he's asking for, which is time to think, so the only thing that the three of us can do is hope that Hiccup will realize that he and Astrid are meant for each other." Stoick assured.

"I guess since Hiccup will have his dragon around to protect him the whole time he's away, we don't have to worry about him getting hurt or anything. Now then, it's late, so we should all get some sleep," Alrick said, before turning to face his daughter. "Come on, Astrid, let's go home."

"Yes, dad," Astrid replied, as she got up from her seat at the table, and turned to say one last thing. "I understand, chief, and thank you for calling me all of these things, it really does make me feel better, good night." She added, before running to catch up with her father.

When the Hofferson family had left, with closing the tall wooden doors behind them, Stoick sat in silence at the table for a little longer before leaving the Great Hall too, going back to his house, and he put Hiccup's letter down on the table, before finding another letter that he received last week.

During the time that Hiccup was spending with Astrid in a place he rarely talked about which he knew was somewhere deep in the forest, Stoick was in the Great Hall with her father, Alrick, where he got an unexpected visit from a man who wore a kilt in a blue checker board pattern, and Stoick quickly asked for Alrick to leave.

The chief could obviously tell from the man's uniform that he came all the way from Scotland, so he asked the man what reason did he have to enter Berk, and the man explained that he was a messenger for the kingdom of DunBroch, and he had a message from King Fergus and Queen Elinor.

They had a sixteen-year old daughter named Merida, and their parents wanted to find out if Stoick had any sons that she could get to know, but Stoick said that he did have a son, who was already in a serious relationship, and was sure that he wouldn't be interested in meeting anyone new, especially from Scotland.

With hearing that, the messenger left, but not before giving a letter to the chief, just in case Stoick ever changed his mind and wanted to visit DunBroch, with or without his son, but he needed to bring the letter with him as proof, since nobody might not believe that he really had a written invitation.

Instead, Stoick went back to his house and hid the letter in a place he thought Hiccup would never want to look: in his beard, before going over to Alrick's house, and asking him if he expected Hiccup was going to propose to her daughter during their date that night, and Alrick didn't think so, but asked why.

Stoick went on to say that his son and Astrid should get married, with the end of the summer being a perfect time for the wedding to happen, and they could all discuss the marriage when the Hoffersons returned from their week-long fishing trip, and Alrick agreed, despite thinking the whole idea was so suddenly.

The chief's mind went back to the present time, which was the day that Hiccup left Berk, and he looked at the letter from DunBroch for a short moment before he threw it into the fire, and watched as the letter burned through the flames until it became a pile of dust and ashes.


	3. Introductions

**Before you read this chapter, I want all of you to know that I tried my very best with writing Merida's accent, having her say "ye" for you, "yer" for your, and not having the letter g when Merida says any words that end with ing, so please let me know through either a review or a Private Message of how I could make her accent much better in the story. I'd really appreciate it, and I apologize for the long delay, it's just that I've been working on three other multi-chapter stories: _Somewhere Only We Know_, _The Princess & The Dragon Rider_, _Why Don't You Love Me?, _and a Rise of the Guardians one-shot with Jack Frost and Toothiana. One more thing, today happens to be my 20th birthday, so it would be great if I received a few birthday messages. I'd really appreciate it. :) **

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_**Introductions**_

"Listen, I don't know who ye are, or where ye even came from, but what do ye think you're doin'? If I don't shoot this beast down, the fish I caught earlier won't be the only thing he'll be eatin', now get yer hand off my arrow!" The redhead demanded.

"It's okay, I know this dragon, he isn't going to hurt you, and I can tell that he's very hungry, because he hasn't actually had any fish for hours, so it would be nice if you could just let him have that fish you caught, and there won't be a problem for us at all." Hiccup suggested.

The redhead was prepared to argue about Toothless with Hiccup again, but she hesitated for a while, and she looked over at the fish which was still on the ground, eventually releasing her hand from the arrow, walked over to pick it up, and pulled the arrow out of the fish.

While holding the fish with both of her hands, she carefully took small steps toward the dragon, and held the fish out, while Toothless got down to arm's length and prowled over to the redhead like a cat, expectantly opened his jaws, and she was surprised to see that Toothless didn't have any teeth.

"How is that even possible? From what I've heard from my father, every dragon is supposed to have. . ." The redhead didn't get to finish the rest of her sentence when razor sharp teeth suddenly shot out from Toothless' gums, and he snapped up the fish whole, swallowing it.

The redhead jerked back her hands in shock, as she couldn't believe that a dragon had actually eaten something from her own hands, even though she nearly had her fingers bitten off, and she was confused when it didn't look like Toothless was completely done with the fish.

"That's how I've given him the name 'Toothless', because of his retractable teeth, and to be honest, it's really a long story with how I know this dragon, but I'm sure in telling you that he's not interested in eating anyone alive, so anyway, my name is Hiccup, and what's yours?" Hiccup asked.

The redhead was about to answer when the Night Fury advanced on her, which caused the redhead to lose her balance, and fall, and she crawled backwards until her back was up against one of the trees, and stared at her for a few seconds beforew pulling back a little then started making a strange gagging sound.

"I knew that this dragon was dangerous! Angus! Come over here right now, I need yer help!" The redhead called out, and in a matter of seconds, her loyal and trustworthy horse appeared, and Hiccup's eyes widened, as he got a really good close-up view of what her horse looked like.

Angus was a huge Clydesdale who stood nearly twice as tall as both Hiccup and her owner, which was the redhead, and he had a soft coat which was jet black except for the white on all four of his huge hooves, and a small patch of white between his big brown eyes.

"Wait a minute, I swear, Toothless has no intention of eating or attacking you, which is why you don't need to be saved or anything, Toothless just wanted to give you something, and I'm pretty sure that it's going to fall right onto your lap in three. .two. .one. ." Hiccup counted.

Toothless opened up his mouth and half of the fish the redhead gave him slid down the dragon's tongue and right into her lap, and the redhead stared down at the fish tail stunned, and disgusted, as the fish was covered in a gross mixture of dragon drool and pale green slime.

"I hope yer happy, Hiccup, at least, if that's actually yer real name, because not only did yer dragon manage to scare me, but also get my dress ruined, not that I really do care about it, so anyway, what exactly does yer dragon expect me to do with this now? It's already been eaten." The redhead mentioned.

"Yes, I can see that, which is why Toothless is waiting to see you eat some of it, and I know this because it's happened to me before when I wanted to gain his trust, but I understand if you don't want to do it, and I'm sure that there's a different way to earning his trust for yourself." Hiccup explained.

"I've never said that I didn't want to do it, so what do you think I am, chicken?" The redhead questioned, before taking a bite out of the fish, which obviously took Hiccup by surprise, considering that he wouldn't expect any girl from Berk, especially Astrid, to ever eat something that came from a dragon's mouth.

"Well then, I guess that you don't have to earn Toothless' trust any other way after all." Hiccup said, just as he put his hands on the dragon's neck, which caused the Night Fury to back up and give the redhead much more space, and especially enough for her to get back up on her feet.

"I never got a chance to properly introduce myself. I'm Princess Merida, and this is my horse, Angus, and we both come from Castle DunBroch, which is not so far away from here in Scotland. I'm the daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor, and I have three brothers, whose names are Hamish, Hubert, and Harris." Merida said.

"Merida, it's nice to meet you and your horse, and if I haven't said it before, I'm sorry for Toothless having you scared earlier, but wait, I almost forgot. There's still one more thing that you have to do that will show Toothless that he can trust you. Please give me your hand." Hiccup replied.

"Oh, really, than what was the whole point of having yer dragon almost bite my fingers off, have my back up against a tree, drop his eaten fish onto my dress, and stare at me until I ate a part of it, but anyway, what's going to happen now, does he have to smell and give my hand a lick?" Merida asked.

Despite what she said, Merida still lent out her hand, and as Hiccup took it, he suddenly felt goosebumps, since the only other girl in which he's touched their hand was Astrid, and Hiccup's touched her hands multiple times, so that's why it was strange to be feeling another girl's hand for the first time.

"Hello. . .Hiccup? Are ye alright? Can ye even hear what I'm sayin'?" Merida asked, but when he still didn't respond, while using her other hand that wasn't in Hiccup's grasp, she clapped her hands in front of his face to help him wake up from this unexpected and unknown spell that he was put under.

"Sorry to have you worried, Merida, but I was just thinking about something, and honestly, it's not really important right now, so anyway, I swear nothing bad is going to happen, you're only going to have your hand on a spot above his nose, and between both of his eyes.

"Just have patience, keep your hand out towards him, and wait for Toothless to come to you," Hiccup said, before letting go of her hand, and turning his head around to face his animal friend, and motioning for him to come closer with one of his hands, and so the dragon took small steps in Merida's direction.

Toothless stopped moving until his head came just below Merida's waiting palm, and he closed his eyes before raising his head and then pressing his nose into her palm, and Merida quietly gasped with the soft feeling of it, as well as the warmth running into her palm, and coming right down her arm too.

"So, Merida, do you feel that now?" Hiccup asked softly, and Merida quickly brought her face up from staring at her hand to look at Hiccup with a expression of awe, while nodding, and he could immediately tell that this was the very first time that she actually got up close and made a deep connection with a dragon.

"It feels. . .amazing, and believe it or not, Hiccup, I've never felt something like this during the times when I've rode Angus through this same forest or even those few times when I climbed up to the Crone's Tooth, and drank water from the Fire Falls, which is what I've heard about in ancient songs and stories." Merida answered.

"I'm guessing that the Crone's Tooth is a tall mountain somewhere around this land, and the Fire Falls is a waterfall, which I hope isn't actually made up of real fire? There's not much mountains and waterfalls where I came from, and unlike the other dragons, nobody does find it useful to give them a name." Hiccup said.

"Other dragons? Where exactly did ye and yer dragon come from, because I'm sure it's not one of the other three clans, because I do remember that they didn't bring any dragons along with them when they visited my family's kingdom in the past, so tell me, Hiccup, where did ye come from?" Merida asked.

"Since you've already told me where you're from, I should do the same as well. Me and Toothless have come from the island of Berk, which is the home or village to the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, and it's also where my father is the chief, and his name is Stoick the Vast. Have you ever heard of him before?" Hiccup questioned.

"No, I haven't heard of your father or even Berk, for that matter, but what I also want to know is why ye're not in yer village right now? As for me, I'm not at the castle because my parents recently allowed me to go on a trip around these woods, and they didn't need to worry about me, since it would be only a week," Merida explained. "So anyway, why aren't ye in Berk?" Merida asked.

"My father wants me to get married to a girl by the end of the summer, and even though I've known her ever since we were kids, the two of us didn't start dating until a few months ago, and it wasn't until this morning that she decided to say that she loved me, and my father telling me about the marriage contract with her parents.

I tried to tell my father that it was too soon for me and this girl to get married, but he didn't listen, and said that the marriage would be a good thing to happen, not only for our families, but also for the village altogether, so I left, but not before leaving behind a letter saying that I needed time to think about making a real committment to this girl, and so I would be gone for at least one week, since I think that would be enough time for me." Hiccup explained.

"Believe it or not, Hiccup, but it seems like we have another thing in common, besides having a best friend who's an animal, and that's having yer family pressure ye into gettin' married just for the sake of bringing a truce and making peace with yer enemies, because that's what happened to me a few weeks ago." Merida responded.

"Really, then if you don't mind, please tell me how did you manage to get yourself out of it?" Hiccup asked, as he carefully took a seat down on the grass, and Merida did the same as well, along with their animal friends laying on the ground too, since it didn't seem like any of them had some other place to be at the moment.

"I hope that ye don't mind havin' to hear a long story, but I'll still try to make it as short as possible, so that way, tellin' the whole story won't have to take hours. I'll start with the legendary tale of Mor'du, the demon bear who usually spent most of his time secretly roamin' through the wilderness of this forest.

Once, there was an ancient kingdom, it's name long forgotten, and the kingdom was ruled by a wise, and fair king, who was much beloved. When the king grew old, he divided the kingdom among his four sons, that they should be the pillars on which the peace of the land rested, but it wouldn't stay that way forever.

The oldest prince wanted to rule the land for himself, so he followed his own path, and the kingdom fell to war, chaos, and ruin. Now Hiccup, it's very important that ye remember what I just told ye, because the oldest prince of that kingdom is going to come up much later in the story, do ye understand?" Merida asked, and Hiccup simply gave a nod with his head.

"Many years ago, on my birthday, I was given a bow as a present from my dad, and while practicing, I accidentally shot an arrow into the forest, so when I went to get the arrow, I spotted a trail of will o' the wisps that led me back to my parents." Merida said.

She was about to continue with the story when Hiccup raised up one of his hands, and although Merida was a little annoyed that Hiccup didn't let her continue, she still believed that he needed to know about something she just said to him, so he could understand the story.

"Wait, will o' a what? Merida, I'm sorry to interrupt, but could you please describe what those are to me?" Hiccup asked. "I'm not sure whether I've already seen them before or not." He added, while still feeling bad for cutting in Merida's story so early.

"Will' o' the wisps are small, floatin' blue lights, and they usually come out for those who venture out after sunset on unfamiliar pathways, and they're said to lead ye to treasure or to doom, or in other words, to change yer fate." Merida explained.

Hiccup widened his eyes for a moment, and his jaw almost dropped when he realized that these were the same blue lights that led him to find Merida, but maybe it meant that he just needed somebody who knew this land, and maybe to guide him through it too.

"Now then, as I was sayin', my mum told me that the will o' the wisps lead you to your fate, but my dad didn't believe it and walked away, when suddenly, Mor'du came out to attack us, and my dad fought off the bear long enough to give me and my mum a chance to escape on horseback, but it came at the cost of his left leg."

Once again, Hiccup raised up one of his hands and went ahead with talking, but this time, not even bothering to stop and wait for Merida to ask what it was that he needed to know more about, but Hiccup just wanted to point something out, and it was something that he actually had in common with Merida's father.

"It seems like me and our father already have something in common. We've both lost part of our left leg in battle. If you want, I could tell you the story of how I lost it sometime, and one more thing, I'm sorry for interrupting for a second time, and I promise that it won't happen again. Please continue." Hiccup said.

"Are ye sure, Hiccup, because I swear if ye raise your hand one more time, then not only will I not go through with tellin' the story, but both ye and yer dragon can find somewhere else in this land to stay for the rest of the week, and you wouldn't want that, because this land is very dangerous." Merida replied.

"Hold on, Merida, you mean that you really don't mind me and Toothless staying here in the forest with you and your horse? I'm sure that you weren't expecting any company, and I didn't think that it would be such a good idea, since having us around might probably ruin your trip and all." Hiccup responded.

"Are ye kiddin', Hiccup? I just felt the warmth of yer dragon comin' into my hand and runnin' all the way down my arm for the first time ever. I don't think that ye've been in this land before, so it might be better for the both of ye to stick around with someone who knows their way around it, don't ye think?" Merida asked.

"Yeah, you're right, it would be a lot better. . .and oh, wait, that reminds me," Hiccup took a quick look around before getting up from the ground. "Before I left my village, I packed a basket with things that I would need, like clothes, and I'm sure that I left it a spot which isn't so far away from here. I'm just going to get it, and I'll be back, okay?" Hiccup answered.

"Alright, me and Angus will be waitin' right here for ye to come back, and ye might want to have yer dragon come along with ye for protection, because ye wouldn't want to have him goin' off into the forest right now, especially since it's about to get dark really soon." Merida said, before getting up from the ground.

"That's a good idea." Hiccup replied, and turned around to face Toothless. "Come with me, bud. I have to get my basket before nighttime sets in." He told his dragon, and with Toothless now following him from behind, Hiccup carefully walked across to the other side of the stream and back into the forest again.

When Hiccup looked back, he could see that Merida was already standing just at the end of the stream and also had her bow in her hand with an arrow placed in it, while aiming the arrow down at the stream, as she was waiting to catch a fish for herself, and he was kinda hoping that she would catch another for him too.

Suddenly, a brand new trail of blue lights appeared right in front of Hiccup, and Toothless was about to run ahead and pounce on them again when Hiccup put both of his hands on the dragon's nose, which stopped him from going any further, and Hiccup thought that he should follow the will o' the wisps on his own this time.

"Toothless, please stay right here. These lights are going to help me find my basket, and I won't be gone for a long time, so could you wait until I get back? Don't worry, I'll let you chase the lights for another time." Hiccup said, and although his best friend was hesitant for a while, he eventually agreed, by making a sitting position.

With seeing that action done by Toothless, Hiccup turned around to head in the direction of where the will o' the wisps were taking him, and while each of the floating blue lights disappeared as he came closer to every one, Hiccup started to think more about why exactly would the lights lead him to Merida.

Was it even the slightest bit possible that the will o' the wisps led their way for Hiccup find this redhead because maybe, she was the one whom Hiccup is meant to be with?

Hiccup instantly shook the idea out of his mind, and thought that it was considering that he's only known Merida for less than an hour, and so he went back to following the floating blue lights until he found his basket, and Hiccup was able to find his way back to Toothless with the help of another trail of will o' the wisps.


	4. Stories & Legends

******I would like to apologize to all of you for the late update with this story. I appreciate that you've been following it or had the story as a favorite or both, so thank you very much. Today just happens to be the one-year anniversary of the day that Brave was released in theaters.**

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_**Stories & Legends**_

Just as Hiccup had started to walk on the path leading him back to Toothless, with the will' o the wisps as his personal guide, he heard his stomach making sounds of their own.

Once again, he was hoping that right now, Merida had already caught a fish from the stream with an arrow, and started to have the fish cooked by roasting it over a warm fire.

Hiccup also couldn't wait to hear the rest of the redhead's story, since he got interested from hearing about her family, the will' o the wisps, and a dangerous bear named Mor'du.

Hiccup carried the basket over his right shoulder and was happy to see that Toothless did exactly what he was told with not moving around the forest and waiting for him to come back.

"Thanks for staying right here, bud!" Hiccup said, as he came forward and shortly rubbed his best friend's nose. "Now we should get back to Merida and her horse before they start to worry." He added.

Toothless nodded, and so he followed Hiccup from behind as the Viking went the same way out of the forest, and back to the stream, which he carefully walked across, with the basket still on his shoulder.

"Hiccup! It's good to see that ye've come back here in one piece, so I guess that there wasn't any trouble with findin' yer basket, huh?" Merida asked, while holding her bow with one hand, and an arrow with another fish in the other.

"Nope, it wasn't a problem finding the basket, as well as getting back here, because I got some help from those will o' the. . ." Hiccup trailed off, as he began to think hard for a moment about what helped him find his way back.

"Those will o' the wisps?" Merida said, as she laid down her bow on the ground, but not before she stuck the fish-wielding arrow at a nearby spot, and she started on making another fire, because the last one somehow went out.

"Yes, that's right, and I was going to say that, but I kinda forgot the name of them so quickly," Hiccup replied, before putting his focus on Merida's efforts to start a fire with two stones, which didn't seem to be working at all for her.

"Merida, would you like some help there, because it's probably going to take you all night if keep doing that," Hiccup added, then he turned around to face Toothless.

"Hey, bud, you wouldn't mind giving our friend a little help," Hiccup said, and he quickly started to think about a certain word he said right when after it came out of his mouth.

Was it much too soon for Hiccup to be calling Merida a friend, even though she did allow him and Toothless to stick around with both her and her horse for the night.

Merida grew up in this land for her whole life, so she obviously knew it very well, and it wouldn't have been a bad idea to have her at least guide them through the land.

Hiccup's thoughts about Merida were instantly interrupted when Toothless shot a fireball to the pile of sticks on the ground, which created a fire warm enough for all of them.

"Seems like yer dragon has managed to save me from possibly spendin' almost the whole night workin' on a fire for us, so please tell him that I said thanks." Merida said.

"I should probably make sure to do that right now before I forget," Hiccup replied, before looking over at Toothless. "Thank you for helping Merida out, bud." He added.

The Viking scratched the Night Fury under his chin for only a few seconds, which caused Toothless to give back his own affection, with licking his best friend in the face.

Merida couldn't help but let out a few laughs as she watched the cute and adorable moment between Hiccup and Toothless happen not so far away in her sight.

"Now then, Hiccup, are ye gonna be all lovey dovey with yer dragon, or do ye wanna hear the rest of the story that I was beginning to tell earlier?" Merida asked.

"I still want to hear the story but. . ." Hiccup answered, as he took a seat on the ground, having his legs crossed. "I haven't eaten anything since this morning so. . ."

"Ye were hopin' for me to catch a fish for ye, right?" Merida guessed, and soon enough, she got back up on her feet, but not before grabbing her bow and another arrow.

"Yeah, but only if you don't mind," Hiccup replied, before turning to Toothless. "I would want my friend here to help, but he'll probably just eat the fish as soon he catches it." He added.

Toothless shot Hiccup a glare, but the dragon eased up when he realized that what the boy had said was right, because Hiccup needed to have something to eat too.

"No, I don't mind, Hiccup, but maybe later, I could give ye some personal lessons in archery, so that way, ye could be able to catch a fish on yer own." Merida suggested.

"Sure, I would like that," Hiccup said, while taking a look around. "Of course, it might be best to do those lessons when the sun is out, and not in the dark." Hiccup added.

"I agree, because ye won't ever find yer target at nighttime," Merida responded, while placing an arrow in her bow. "Now if ye excuse me, I have a fish to catch for ye."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." Hiccup said, giving her a grin as he looked up at her, but to his surprise, Merida didn't look back and kept walking over to the stream.

Hiccup was beginning to believe that Merida was upset with him for having her catch a fish, but he was sure that as soon as he learns archery, she wouldn't be anymore.

Toothless laid down on the grass, right next to Hiccup, who decided to lay against the dragon's stomach for a while, until they both heard the sound of an arrow being shot.

"I've got good news, Hiccup, it didn't take me that long to catch dinner for ye," Merida said, as she came in front of the Viking and his dragon to show them the fish she caught.

"I'll go have it cooked for ye too, but yer still gonna make it up to me by learning how to do archery tomorrow morning, so ye can catch yer own breakfast." Merida added.

"I know that I've said this already, but thanks, Merida, and so I promise that from now on, or after I've learned archery tomorrow, you won't have to catch a fish for me ever again." Hiccup replied.

"I'm glad to hear that, Hiccup, and luckily, it's not gonna take a long time for yer fish to be cooked either, so ye shouldn't have to wait a while for it to be done." Merida said.

"Honestly, a cooked fish isn't the only thing I can't wait for, as I'm still wanting to hear the rest of your story, but you and I should probably eat our fish first." Hiccup responded.

"Yes, because it's much better to be tellin' a story without havin' food in yer mouth, and just so ye know, that's one of the things my mother has taught me." Merida reminded.

"I'm sure that you feel very lucky to still have your mother in your life, because mine passed away when I was just a kid, and I still believe that her death was my fault." Hiccup revealed.

Right when Hiccup had said all of that, just as she was about to take a bite of the fish she caught, Merida lowered it down from her mouth, and gave a look of sadness.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Hiccup, but why would ye think it's yer fault that yer mum died, like she didn't pass away after giving to you, did she?" Merida asked curiously.

"No, luckily, she didn't, although it was quite painful for her, and she was around to take care of me, that is, until a dragon raid happened in my village. Even though I was told to stay inside the house, I went out anyway, most likely because a thunder storm was happening on the same night too, and she would always make me feel safe and protected." Hiccup explained.

"Hiccup, ye shouldn't keep blamin' yerself, since all of that guilt isn't goin' to help ye out with anything, but did ye and yer father ever talk about it?" Merida asked, before taking a bite out of the fish.

"He's told me many times that it wasn't my fault, but I still manage to feel gulity that I distracted her from saving the livestock from the dragons." Hiccup answered.

"Ye know, Hiccup, there was actually a time when I almost lost my Mum, it wasn't so long ago from now, and that's really what my story is about." Merida mentioned.

"Oh, really, then I guess that I'm going to finish eating this whole fish quickly so I can get to hear the entire thing as soon as possible." Hiccup announced.

"Hold on, Hiccup, ye can still get to listen to my story while yer eating that fish, so there's no reason why ye shouldn't take yer time with it." Merida reminded.

"Alright, but I was just thinking that it would be nice of me to give my full attention to you, and not be focused with doing something else." Hiccup responded.

"Well, if ye really want to finish eating it, take yer time with making slow bites, and no matter what, don't stuff the whole thing down." Merida advised.

"I'm guessing that it was your mother who told you both of those things? Either way, those are good tips for eating at the dinner table." Hiccup complimented.

"I learned both of them during my lessons, and there have been times when my Mum would repeat those tips so that I didn't forget them." Merida mentioned.

"In the past, even though I was told to do something by a lot more than one person, I would still not listen to them, and do the exact opposite." Hiccup said.

"Were ye always the local troublemaker in the village back then, or did ye just not like being told what to do and what not to do by people?" Merida asked.

"Neither, but since I was the only child to my parents, they didn't want me to get into any trouble, such as run off somewhere and get myself hurt." Hiccup answered.

"When I was a child, before my brothers were born, my parents would let me go off into the forest, but only if I accidentally shot an arrow that went there." Merida said.

"Wow, so Merida, even when you were young, your parents trusted you enough to let you go to places on your own? Don't you think that wasn't a good idea?" Hiccup asked.

"I'm sure that my Mum and Dad were always worried while I was gone, but they'd know that I would eventually find my way out and come back to them." Merida replied.

"Well, for me, unless either my mother or father had their eyes on me the whole time, I couldn't be allowed to spend time at any place on Berk all by myself." Hiccup said.

"That must have been such a shame for you, and I don't mean to ruin this whole conversation we have goin' here, but would you like to hear the story now?" Merida asked.

"Oh, absolutely, Merida, but I still think that I should eat the rest of this fish before you even start, since I don't want to make any interruptions for you." Hiccup responded.

"Alright, but while yer doing that, I'll just. . ." Merida trailed off as she turned around to look for her horse. ". . .spend some time with Angus until yer done." Merida finished.

"I'll do what you said with taking my time, but I'll also try not to take so long either, I promise." Hiccup said, while looking up at Merida before taking a bite out of his fish.

Merida gave a quick thumbs up with her right hand to Hiccup after she got up from the ground, and made her way over to sit down with her trusty four-legged childhood friend.

"Sorry to bother ye, Angus, but there's no way that I'd want to be spendin' the next few minutes watchin' that boy eat a fish that he didn't even catch for himself!" Merida said.

Upon hearing that, Angus was getting prepared to swat Merida in the face with his tail, and unfortunately, the horse couldn't be able to do that, since the redhead was much closer to his head than his backside.

Angus didn't seem to find the boy as a problem at all, since he was even willing to take up archery lessons from Merida the next morning, so that she wouldn't need to catch another fish for him anymore.

The Clydesdale snorted in Merida's face, hoping his friend would somehow get the message that she was being a little too harsh about the company they had closeby, and luckily, it had managed to work.

"Yeah, I know that he's never learned how to use a bow and arrow, he told me himself, but does he really think that I won't have his attention if he's eatin' a fish?" Merida questioned.

Angus figured that the boy was just trying to be nice, since he and Merida hadn't ever met before, not to mention the fact that he knows she's also a Scottish princess.

Merida turned around to take a look of how much progress Hiccup has done with eating his fish so far, and she was surprised to see that he was almost finished with it.

"Well, it doesn't seem like he's only doin' it to get on my nerves or anythin', and I have to admit that it was rather cool to feel the warmth of his dragon's nose." Merida said.

Angus was glad to know that the boy's dragon wasn't much of a problem for Merida either, despite the way that he just showed up, and almost scared the heck out of her.

"Anyway, as soon as Hiccup's dinner is over, I'm goin' to tell him the story of how I almost lost my Mum, and after that, we'll call it a night and get some sleep." Merida added.

Right after the horse gave a nod with his head, Angus and the girl both heard a rather loud noise which sounded most like a burp, and they turned their heads to where it came from.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," Hiccup said, before bringing up one of his sleeves to his mouth so that he could wipe away any drooly spots he might have gotten from eating.

"Now that yer done, can I get to tell ye the story, or is there anything else that ye want to do?" Merida asked, while walking over to the grassy spot where Hiccup was sitting at.

"No, there's nothing that I can think of at the moment, so yes, you can now tell the story to me and Toothless." Hiccup answered, backing up a little to give Merida more space.

"Just so ye know in advance, I'm goin' to try and make this story as short as possible, because I'd like to get enough sleep so that I'll have lots of energy for yer archery lesson tomorrow." Merida reminded.

"I'm okay with that, since I don't think it's really important to hear every single thing, and it would be best for all of us to get our rest as soon as possible." Hiccup said.

"Glad to hear that from you, but I don't want to hear anythin' else from the time I begin this story to the moment when it's all over. Understand?" Merida questioned.

Hiccup gave his response with a simple nod of his head, and at the same time, he was telling himself in his head not to say a word or even raise one of his hands either.

"Now then, where was I?" Merida said, while thinking for a moment. "Oh, yes! Many years passed ever since my dad lost his leg to Mor'du, and as I grew up, I became more much free-spirited, and adventurous.

That's why all I wanted was to have a free life, but my Mum preferred that I should focus on bein' a proper princess, since that title came with important duties and responsibilities. From the way that I saw it, with her endless lessons and high expectations, she was teachin' me so I could grow up to become just like her.

After I returned home from ridin' Angus on a day when I had no lessons, my Mum told me at dinner that the clans of Macintosh, MacGuffin and Dingwall would be coming, and the Lords would present their sons as suitors to compete in a competition for my hand in marriage, and of course, I wasn't happy about it at all.

My Mum came to my room and reminded me about the legend of the prince who ruined his own kingdom by puttin' himself first over others, and also warned me that a failure to marry could result in a war happenin' between the four clans, but I was still unhappy and unsatisfied with the whole arrangement.

A few days passed before the clans arrived, and to make me look ready and prepared like a princess should, Mum had me wear a tight formal dress. I wasn't impressed by any of the suitors presented to me, and a brawl soon broke out between the clans, which had my Mum disgusted, so she quickly put an end to it.

She announced that only the firstborn of the great leaders may compete in the challenge, which gave me an idea of how to get out of the marriage, and since it was up to me to decide on what the challenge was going to be, I declared to the clans that it would be none other than my favorite hobby of mine, archery.

Before the competition began, I snuck my bow and arrow behind my throne, and as the suitors shot at the targets, I talked with my dad about each of them until one of the suitors, who was the son of Lord Dingwall, won by accident, striking a bulls-eye, and that's when I went off to the field and declared I will shoot for my own hand.

Ignorin' my mother's protests, I struck a bulls-eye at the first two targets, and I smiled as I shot another arrow that went through the full length of Wee Dingwall's arrow and through the target, before turning around to face my Mum, who I could see was obviously furious, and she dragged me back to the tapestry room.

Right when we got there, the two of us had an argument about my actions out in the field, with my Mum calling me a child and me calling her a beast for trying to ruin my life, and while using a sword, I went over to the sewed family tapestry and made a tear between the spot that had me and my Mum side by side.

My Mum took my bow and threw it into a fire, and I ran away, devastated, from the castle on Angus in tears, and we rode through the forest until we came across a Ring of Stones, and I soon saw a trail of will o' the wisps, which I decided to follow, and they led me and Angus all the way to an old woodcarver's cottage.

After noticin' a broom sweepin' by itself and hearin' a talkin' crow, I discovered that this old woodcarver was actually a witch, but she tried to deny it, and told me to leave, while threatenin' me with a lot of floatin' knives, and said that she wouldn't help me unless I bought any of her wooden carvings that she'd made.

I offered to buy all of her carvings with my pendant in exchange for a spell that would change my fate, and so the witch gave in, conjurin' up a cake, and told me that she did this spell before for a prince who wanted the strength of ten men and got what he wanted, and somehow, I found myself back at the Ring of Stones.

I returned to the castle, and snuck into the kitchen to make the cake look presentable, and just when I was finished, my Mum entered the room, relieved that I was back home, and so I quickly gave her the cake as a peace offering, and after she had just a piece of the cake, she suddenly started to feel very sick.

I took my Mum up to her room, while believin' that the spell was already taking effect, but after I got my Mum into her bed, she soon rolled off of it to the other side of the floor, while still bein' covered up by the blanket, and I began to hear strange sounds from under it, and I walked over to see if she was alright.

The blanket that my Mum was under started to get higher than me, and it finally came off to reveal that my Mum had transformed into a bear, which left me horrified, but with the help of my brothers, we managed to escape the castle without being caught, and we retreated back into the forest, to the witches cottage.

The witch wasn't inside, but she did leave a message for me with a cauldron by using a potion, saying that by the second sunrise, the spell would be permanent, and the only way to break the spell was to remember this riddle "Fate be changed, look inside, mend the bond, torn by pride."

I began to panic, thinkin' that there wasn't another message for me, so l tossed the other potions into the cauldron, which created an explosion that destroyed the cottage, and as it started to rain, me and my Mum decided to take shelter in what was left of the cottage for the night.

Durin' the night, I had a dream about a memory of me as a child with my Mum as we were both singin' a Scottish lullaby, and when I woke up, I saw that my Mum brought breakfast for both of us, with it bein' nightshade berries and water, but unfortunately, the berries were poisonous and the water had worms with it.

We came across a river, and while we were there, I taught my Mum on how to catch fish, which had us bondin' for a small period of time before my Mum headed into the forest, and when I caught up with her, my Mum suddenly prowled up to me, and acted as if she was about to attack me, but luckily, it didn't happen.

The two of us saw a trail of will o' the wisps, which we followed, and they led me and my Mum to the ruins of a old castle, and I fell down through a pit to come into the throne room, and I realized it was the same kingdom from the story my Mum had told me about many times before.

I found an engraved stone of the King's four brothers, but a part with the fourth brother had been split, just like when I had cut my Mum apart from me on the family tapestry, and I realized that the witch's spell happened before, and that the brother was transformed into the raging bear Mor'du.

When I turned around, there was Mor'du, who had been living in the ruins for all this time, and tried to attack me, but I barely escaped with the help of my Mum, and we ran away from the ruins of the castle until we were at the Ring of Stones.

I realized that if we didn't break the spell in time, then my Mum would become just like Mor'du, like a real bear forever, and I remembered that the witch told me I had to "mend the bond torn by pride", so I was sure that the spell would be broken if we went back to the castle and sewed the family tapestry back together.

Peekin' into the Great Hall, we saw my Dad and the lords behind barricades, hurlin' weapons at each other, on the brink of war, and since my Mum was a bear, she couldn't do anythin' to stop them, so I walked into the room and told everyone that I'd been in conference with my Mum.

The lords demanded to see my Mum, but I told them to be quiet, and I saw that my Mum had snuck into the room, and froze into a still position so that she wouldn't be seen and attacked, so with the help of my Mum, I gave a speech about how the clans were once enemies.

When they were threatened by the Northern Invaders, they joined together to defend their lands, and when they won the war, the clans made my Dad their king for bringing them together and made an alliance, one that was forged in bravery and friendship, and still lived to this day.

I admitted that I'd been selfish, tore a great rift in our bond, and there was no else to blame but myself, but I knew that I had to make things right by amendin' my mistake and restoring our bond, so just when I was about to announce my decision with whom to marry, I saw my Mum shakin' her head.

With sign language from my Mum, I told everyone that she had decided to break tradition because she felt in her heart that we should be free to write our own stories, follow our hearts, and find love in our time, and both the Lords and their sons agreed to this.

I noticed a guard starin' at my Mum and so I managed to get rid of everyone by telling them to go to the cellar to celebrate, and once they were all gone, my Mum and I headed to the the tapestry room, but not long after my Mum began to look for a thread and needle, she was acting like a wild bear again.

When my Dad came into the room, my Mum attacked him, and did a small cut on my right arm, but she quickly snapped out of it, and upon seeing that she harmed both me and my Mum, she left, and I tried to tell my Dad that the bear was his wife he refused to listen, and locked her in the tapestry room for protection.

I called out to the castle's maid Maudie to come and open the door, but then my brothers showed up, and I saw that they turned into bears from eatin' the cake, and I asked for their help to get the key from Maudie, and soon enough, they got it and released me from the tapestry room.

The four of us rode on Angus while I sewed up the tapestry, and soon a trail of will o' the wisps led us to where my Mum had been captured by my Dad, as well as the other soldiers, and I fought my Dad to stop him from killing my Mum, but then, Mor'du appeared, and everyone's attention was brought to him.

Mor'du fought off my Dad and all the other soldiers who attempted to kill him, and just when he tried to attack me, my Mum rushed in, savin' me just in time, and fought Mor'du for a while before bashin' him against a weakened stone pillar, which fell and crushed him to death.

I saw a wisp emerge from the stone, and it showed the human form of the fourth brother, and he gave a nod with his head, as if it was in acknowledgement and gratitude He then flew away to live with all the other wisps, and as the sun started to come up, I realized it was the second sunrise.

I rushed over to my Mum, and put the sewn tapestry on top of her, and it didn't seem to work, from seeing my Mum's eyes changed, I believed that the spell had become permanent, and I had failed, so I tearfully hugged my Mum and apologized for everythin' and told her I loved her.

Suddenly, I felt a human hand touching my hair, and I looked up to see that my Mum was human again, and my brothers were also back to being human, but the difference is that my Mum had the tapestry to cover herself, and my Mum and I reconciled, before all of us headed back to the kingdom.

A few days passed, and durin' that time, me and my Mum had worked on a new tapestry until one day, we were called to the docks to say goodbye to the Lords, and after, we rode on our horses to journey around Scotland, making our bond stronger than before. . .the end." Merida said.

She took a deep breath to relax herself, especially after talking for such a long time, before facing Hiccup and speaking up again. "So, what did ye think of it?" Merida asked.

"I'd say that you're already an expert in telling a story, but what were all of the things that you've learned from that whole experience?" Hiccup questioned, curious.

"I've learned that puttin' a spell on my Mum was a rash and stupid thing to do, and also when I saw the clans fightin', I realized that my Mum was right all along.

My actions were truly causin' problems between the clans that could have developed into wars, and my duties and responsibilities are important, because they effect not only my life, but also the lives of others, such as the lives of the other clans.

I've realized that one day I will rule a kingdom, but if I'm going to be Queen, then it's important for me to put the needs of others before my own." Merida responded.

"I should make sure to remember that when I take over my dad's position as chief of the village, and I know that he'll have me prepared for it." Hiccup mentioned.

"Yes, that's a good idea, well anyway, it's late, and I'm sure that all of us are tired, so we should put out the fire and get some sleep right now." Merida suggested.

"I agree, and maybe sometime tomorrow, I could tell you the story of how me and Toothless not only became friends, but also brought peace to my village." Hiccup offered.

"Of course, Hiccup, I'd like to hear that story," Merida said, before taking a look at the campfire. "You know, this fire is just going to die out, so we can just leave it alone."

"Okay then, goodnight, Merida, and I can't wait for my archery lesson tomorrow," Hiccup said, before laying himself down next to his dragon's chest, and closed his eyes.

"Right back at ye, Hiccup." Merida replied, as she laid down next to Angus, and closed her eyes too, with both the humans and their friends eventually falling asleep.


End file.
